1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental prosthetics, including implants, crowns and bridges made using materials formed by nanophase technology.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dental prosthetics may be used to replace all or a portion of one or more natural teeth. A dental implant is a portion of a dental prosthetic that is anchored in the jawbone, and is used when an entire tooth has been lost. Dental crowns replace the top part of a natural tooth that has been badly decayed or otherwise damaged. Bridges are two or more crowns on adjacent teeth that are joined together in one piece for extra strength. Dental implants, crowns and bridges are collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cdental prostheticsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9crestoratives.xe2x80x9d With all dental prosthetics it is desirable to have a hard material that is unlikely to break. Nanophase materials, which may be ceramic or metallic, are a new kind of material that is much harder than conventional materials. While nanophase materials are disclosed in the prior art, the use of nanophase materials in dental prosthetics is not disclosed in the prior art. (For a brief general introduction to the subject of nanophase materials, see Siegel, Richard W., Creating Nanophase Materials, Scientific American, December 1996, pp. 74-79.)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,411, issued on Apr. 12, 1988, to George A. Graves, Jr., Dale E. McCullum and Steven M. Goodrich, discloses controlled pore size ceramics designed for dental and orthopaedic applications. The ceramic composite has an open porous network of controlled pore size comprising ceramic particles fused by a coating of glass on their surfaces. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it uses nanophase technology, and does not require a glass coating to bind particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,839, issued on Jun. 30, 1992, to Abraham Ingber, Vincent Prestipino and Anopet Phimmasone, discloses a bone-embedded implant fixture interfaced with an aluminum oxide abutment post. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it uses materials formed by nanophase technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,186, issued on Jun. 29, 1993, to Jeffrey A. Eastman, Kurt E. Sickafus and Joel D. Katz, discloses microwave sintering of nanophase ceramics without concomitant grain growth. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it makes use of nanophase materials in dental prosthetics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,956, issued on May 23, 1995, to William R. Moser, discloses a process for the preparation of nanophase solid state materials, and novel materials formed by the process. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it makes use of nanophase materials in dental prosthetics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,016, issued on Nov. 5, 1996, to Abraham Ingber, Vincent Prestipino and Anopet Phimmasone, discloses a dental implant system, interfaced with a ceramic abutment post. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it uses materials formed by nanophase technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,439, issued on Jun. 30, 1998, to Akira Yamaoka et al., discloses a hybrid dental implant, having cementum particles on the surface of a substrate, but does not disclose the use of nanophase materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,026, issued on Nov. 23, 1999, to Dan Paul Rogers, Gale R. Brown and Daniel Y. Sullivan, discloses a ceramic two-piece dental abutment, but does not disclose the use of nanophase materials in making the abutment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,591, issued on Jan. 11, 2000, to Jackie Y. Ying, Edward S. Ahn and Atsushi Nakahira, briefly mentions the use of xe2x80x9cbioceramicsxe2x80x9d, i.e., biologically compatible ceramics, xe2x80x9cin peridontic and orthopedic applications as well as oral, plastic, and ear, nose, and throat surgery.xe2x80x9d (Column 1, lines 58-60.) It also discloses that use of a xe2x80x9cnanocrystalline apatite articlexe2x80x9d as a xe2x80x9cprostheisxe2x80x9d. (Column 11, lines 34-40.) It does not disclose dental prosthetics made from a combination of ceramic and metallic nanophase materials, nor the use of molds to form dental prosthetics from nanophase materials, as in the instant invention. It also does not disclose dental prosthetics made of biologically inert nanophase materials.
International Patent Application No. 91/08713, filed pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, published on Jun. 27, 1991, inventor Volkhard-Hagen Clostermann, discloses a threaded body for securing a multi-part tooth replacement, but does not disclose the use of nanophase materials.
European Patent Application No. 438 048 A1, published on Jul. 24, 1991, inventor Dr. Prof. Willi Schulte, discloses a dental implant with jaw anchored posts, but does not disclose the use of nanophase materials.
It can be seen that none of the above prior art patents disclose the use of nanophase materials in dental implants, crowns or bridges. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The invention is the use of materials prepared by nanophase technology in dental prosthetics. Nanophase materials are formed by heating and evaporating an ordinary metal or other solid material in a vacuum, and then condensing it back to the solid state using a cold gas, so that the atoms or molecules of the materials form very small clusters. The fact that the atomic or molecular clusters are very small gives nanophase materials unusual properties, including great strength or hardness. Dental implants are inserted into the bone in a patient""s jaw, and are used with prosthetics to replace lost teeth that commonly have both metallic and ceramic portions. Dental implants made from nanophase materials have the advantage of increased hardness over conventional materials, which makes them less likely to break. Nanophase materials may also be used in dental crowns and bridges. Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide improved dental implants.
It is another object of the invention to provide improved dental crowns and bridges.
It is a further object of the invention to provide improved ceramic parts of dental prosthetics.
Still another object of the invention is to provide improved metallic dental prosthetics.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.